Meet a Toucan!
This picture was used with copyright
permission from
Mark Mayfield, Fingerprints Inc.
Toucans live in the tropical rainforests of Central and South
America, especially in the amazon region.
Toucans are large birds whose bodies are about 33 cm to 64 cm
long. They have a slender body, short rounded wings, and a long
tail.
Because the toucan's colors are broken patterns, they are
easily camouflaged in the rainforest.
The most obvious feature of a toucan is its bill. And what a
bill! It's not only big, but sometimes can even be as long as the
toucan's body! The bill is usually brightly colored in the colors
green, yellow, red, or blue. A toucan's bill is light in weight,
fragile and sometimes breaks.
They have a loud croak that can be heard up to a half a mile
away. Because of this, the toucans are considered some of the
noisier animals of the rainforest!
This picture was used with copyright
permission.
More cool pictures and information on toucans
can be found at this site!
Toucans use their bills to fight with each other and to get
food. Toucans eat fruit by snipping off the fruit with the tip of
their large bill and then tossing the fruit backward into their
throats, gulping it down whole! Toucans usually eat fruit, but
also eat some insects, an occasional lizard, and sometimes eggs
and nestlings of smaller birds. Toucans drink by dipping their
bill in water and then raising it up and letting the water flow
down into their mouths.
Toucans prefer to remain high in the trees and hop from
branch to branch. When sleeping, the toucan turns its head over
the back of its body and then brings the tail forward to cover
it.
Toucans build their nests in hollow trees and both parents
take turns sitting on the eggs and caring for the young birds.
I hope you learned more about rainforests and
the toucan and enjoyed visiting my web page!!